Door mechanism



Aug. 25. 1925.

C. C. TOMKINSON noon MECHANISM Filed Jan. 22, 1924 a n u any} INVENTOR Czar/e5 (I fink/126921 Patented Aug. 25, 1925 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. TOMKINSON, OF PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO J. EDWARD OGDEN, OF MOUNTAINVILLE, CORNWALL, NEW YORK.

DOOR MECHANISM.

Application filed January 22, 1924. Serial No. 687,735.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES C. TOMKIN- soN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plainfield, county of Union, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to doors and particularly to door latching and releasing mechanism.

The invention has been particularly worked out for use in connection with large doors of the sectional type such as are used for closing openings in pier sheds, warehouses and like structures. Doors of this type are subjected to severe wind pressures and to other severe stresses and strains and therefore must be so constructed and mounted as to withstand such stresses.

To securely hold the doors against the door casing or door jamb, latching means has been provided, engageable with one door section, preferably the upper section, and releasable by the lower section as the doors are opened. It has been found, however, that the latch releasing means does not always function properly. It sometimes happens that an operator closes the door from the open position and leaves it without moving the lower section downward far enough to reset the latch releasing means. If an attempt is later made to reopen the door, the latch will not be released and will prevent the door sections from opening inward, 111 such cases the operator not realizing the cause of the trouble continues to manipulate the door operating mechanism until some part of the mechanism breaks or gives away.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a sectional door having a latch, means for releasing said latch and means for insuring the operation of the latch releasing means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sectional door with buffer or cushioning means adapted to coact between the lower section and the upper section as the doors are opened.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings, which form a part of this application and in which,

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a portion of a sectional door having a latch engageable with the upper door section, releasing means carried by the lower section and means for insuring the functioning of the releasing means when the doors are opened.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the relation of the sections when on the closing movement the two sections have returned to the door jamb but showing the position of the sections assumed momentarily before the lower section has moved downwardly sufficiently to reset the latch.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the invention in connection with another form of door: latching and releasing means.

The invention briefly described comprises a plurality of door sections, means for latching the upper door section against the door jamb or lintel, means carried by the lower section for releasing the latch as this section moves upwardly and means adapted to coact between the sections for insuring the operation of the latch releasing means when the door is opened. In the embodiment of the invention shown the operation of the latch releasing means is insured by interposing resilient means between the upper section and the lower section having the releasing means thereon. When the combined door sections are moved to closed position, this resilient means forces the lower section having the releasing means thereon downwardly a sufficient extent to position the latch releasing means beneath the latch so that upon the opening movement of the door sections the releasing means will lift the latch and permit the movement of the door sections to their open position. Further details of the invention will appear from the following description.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1-3 there. is illustrated a door comprising an upper section and a lower section 11. The lower section has a flange 12 which is embraced by flange 13 carried by the upper section. The wall of the building structure is shown at 14 and a channel iron 15 forms a lintel or header for the door opening.

For a more complete showing of the door sections and the operating mechanism, attention is directed to Patent No. 1,282,113 to Ogden et al. October 22, 1918. It will be understood without further showing or description that the door section 11 is raised. vertically to a position in which it overlies the upper section 10 whereupon these sections will be swung laterally inwardly in unison to an inclined or horizontal position. The latching mechanism therefore must be so constructed that it will retain the door in closed position and against wind pressure but will. release the door when the sections are to be swung inwardly to their fully open position and moreover will be disposed in latching position upon the return of the sections.

The latching mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1-3 comprises a member 16 pivoted on a pin 17 carried by bracket 18 secured to the wall 14:. The member 16 has formed thereon or secured thereto an upwardly extending lug 19 and a fiat spring 20 is secured to the bracket 18 and engages the lug thereby forcing the pivoted latch member downwardly. The member 16 at the other side of this pivot has formed thereon a lug 21 through which is threaded an adjustable stop 22 engageable with a flange 23 formed on the bracket 18. A look nut 21 retains the stop in adjusted position. By turning the stop 22 the latch 16 will be swung on its pivot and the normal position of the mem her 16 will be varied to correctly position the latch.

The latch member 16 is offset as shown at 25 intermediate its ends and the offset portion is inclined at 26, the outer end portion being substantially flat as shown at 27. The upper door section 10 has secured thereto an upwardly extending bracket or keeper 28 adapted to be engaged by the offset portion of the latch 16.

In order to release the latch the lower section 11 has secured to the upper end thereof a strip or tripper 29 formed of resilient material and offset at its upper end as shown at 29.

The structure above set forth is illustrated and described in Patent No. 1,479,264 issued to applicant January 1st, 1924.

The construction shown in Figs. 13 operates as follows. Assuming that the upper section is in closed position this section will be engaged by the latch 16 and held firmly against the lintel 15. lVhen the lower section is raised from its closed position to a position overlying the upper section, the upper end 29 of the tripper 29 will engage the end 27 of the latch and will raise the latch to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 whereupon the door sections may be swung laterally inwardly to inclined or horizontal position. As the sections swing inwardly the tripper 29 is withdrawn from the latch 16 and the latch under the action of the spring 20 drops into a position determined by the adjustment to the stop 22 and is then ready to engage the keeper 28 on the return movement of the door. The parts are shown in Fig. 2 in the position taken when the door is being closed and the upper sec tion has engaged the lintel 15.

Under the conditions illustrated in Fig. 2 it would be impossible to swing the doors inwardly again to their inclined or horizontal position. This is due to the fact that the lower section on which the latch releasing means is mounted has not moved downwardly a sufficient extent to position the end 29 of the tripper 29 beneath the latch 16. The present invention has for its object to remedy this difliculty and to insure the release of the door sections when the combined sections have been closed and immediately reopened. This is accomplished by provid ing means for forcing the lower section downwardly a sufficient extent to position the end 29 of the tripper 29 beneath the latch.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 13 the upper section 10 has secured to its upper edge one or more lugs 30 which extend inwardly as illustrated to a position overlapping the lower section 11. Each lug 30 has secured thereto a compres sion spring 31 adapted to engage the upper end 32 of the lower section 11. These springs are of sufficient strength to force the lower section downwardly, when the upper section is latched, to the position shown in Fig. 1 in which the tripper is properly positioned to release the latch. In addition to fulfilling the function set forth these springs 31 also serve as buffers when the lower section picks up the upper section upon the opening movement of the doors.

Although Fig. 2 shows the section 19 against the lintel 15 and the upper end of the tripper 29 disposed above the latch 16 for the purpose of illustrating a condition which the action of the spring would over come to position the tripper below the latch, this is a condition which actually would rarely if ever take place since the spring 31 would cause the section 11 to move downwardly relative to the section 10 during the movement from the horizontal to the vertical thereby moving the tripper 29 to such a position that it would always be positioned below the latch 16. For this reason it is possible to use a rigid instead of a resilient tripper. In this connection attention is called to the fact that at the point of break out the vertical motion of the bottom of the door is very slow and that a time interval is required after the lower section reaches a lifting engagement with the upper section to permit the top of the door to swing inwardly as its lower edge begins to rise. At this point the spring absorbs the energy of the lower section and releases it to the upper section during this time interval. This is particularly necessary with motor operated doors.

In the construction shown in Fig. 4 the upper section is shown at 40 and the lower section at 41. The upper section is latched against the lintel 42 by a vertically movable latch 43 engageable with a bracket or lug 44 mounted on the upper section 40. The latch 43 has a shank 45 mounted to slide in brackets 46 secured to a block 47 mounted 011 the wall 48.

A spring 49 encircles the shank 45 and tends to force the shank and latch clownwardly to operative latching position.

The latch releasing means is carried by the lower section 41 and comprises an arm 50 pivoted at 51 to a lug 52, secured at 53 to the door section 41. A spring 54 encircles the pivot 51 and engages arm 50 and lug 52.

As in the construction shown in Figs. 1-3 and hereinbefore described the upper section 40 has one or more lugs 80 secured to the upper end thereof and springs 81 are secured to the lugs and are adapted to engage the upper end of the lower door section 41. The springs act in the same manner as the corresponding springs shown in Figs. 13, to insure the pro-per positioning of the latch releasing means.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that simple, practical and effective means have been provided for insuring the release of the door latching mechanism upon the opening movement of the doors.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been particularly illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention is capable of modification and that further changes in the construction and arrangement of the various cooperating parts may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the in vention as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim is 1. A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position, means carried by a lower tically and laterally movable door sections,-

a latch for locking the upper section in closed position, means carried by a lower section for releasing the latch upon the opening movement of said lower section and means carried by the upper section and engageable with said lower section, for insuring the correct positioning of said releasing means to release the latch.

3. A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position, means carried by a lower section for releasing the latch upon the opening movement of said lower section and resilient means coacting with said sections for insuring the correct positioning of said releasing means to release the latch.

4. A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position, means carried by a lower section for releasing the latch upon the opening movement of said lower section and resilient means carried by the upper section and engageable with said lower section, for insuring the correct positioning of said releasing means to release the latch.

5. A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position, resilient means carried by a lower section for releasing the latch upon the opening movement of said lower section and resilient means carried by the upper section and engageable with said lower section for insuring the correct positioning of said releasing means to release the latch.

6. A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position and means carried by one of the sections and engageable with the other section to insure the correct positioning of the latch releasing means when the upper section is latched in closed position.

7 A door comprising a plurality of vertically and laterally movable door sections, a latch for locking the upper section in closed position and resilient means carried by one of the sections and engageable with the other section to insure the correct positioning of the latch releasing means when the upper section is latched in closed position.

8. A door comprising a pair of vertically and laterally movable door sections, means carried by one of the sections adapted to be engaged by the other section whereby the upper section will be picked up by the lower upper section will be picked up by the lower section as said loweflsection is raised and section as said lower section is raised, and 10 buffer means mounted to coact between said a compression spring adapted to receive the sections. thrust of the lower section and to transmit 5 9. A door comprising a pair of vertically e u t t0 the upper Section.

and laterally movable door sections means In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set carried by one of the sections adapted to my hand this 18th day of J anuary 1924. be engaged by the other section whereby the CHARLES C. TOMKINSON. 

